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10/18/2014

OIFF Review: 'My Father and the Man in Black'

My Father and the Man
in Black

(Canada, 87 min.)

Written and directed by Jonathan Holiff

Johnny Cash is an American icon, so it only makes sense that
the untold story of the man behind the Man in Black is the story of a Canadian.
The late Saul Holiff, reserved and modest(ish), receives a posthumous tribute
from his son, Jonathan, who mines the archive of his father's life in the folksy
documentary My Father and the Man in
Black. This personal Canada production, which screened at the Ottawa International Film Festival on Friday, walks the line between sweetness and
sentimentality, but Holiff provides both an intimate tale of fathers and sons
and a revealing glimpse into music history.

A get deal of the material in My Father and the Man in Black comes from a hidden locker that
houses Saul's secrets until Jonathan's mother hands over the key in the days
following Saul's death. The locker holds a wealth of valuable pieces of rock
and roll history. It’s stuff that Jonathan vehemently denies exists to interested
collectors and journalists, including gold Johnny Cash records congratulating
Saul on selling a million records. The real nuggets hidden away, however, are
boxes of audio diaries that Saul recorded during his years as Cash's manager.

The story that Jonathan Holiff narrates using his father’s
diaries and ample correspondence between Saul and Johnny Cash reveal a much
different, and far less flattering, portrait of the Man in Black than that
which exists in rock and roll folklore, biographies, and movies. Cash
admittedly receives a comparatively balanced portrayal in the warts-and-all
biopic Walk the Line that feature
Joaquin Phoenix as Cash and Reese Witherspoon in an Oscar-winning performance as
June Carter Cash, but My Father and the
Man in Black shows a Cash undone not simply by drugs, booze, and women, but
also by religious fanaticism and personal megalomania. My Father and the Man in Black receives a note of significance in
the introductory preamble to Saul’s life when Holiff explains that he father
didn’t even receive a role for a bit character to play in Walk the Line and went unmentioned in the most widely consumed story of Cash’s
success despite being a key figure in the years dramatized in the film. Saul’s
is to Walk the Line what Ken Taylor
is to Argo, and My Father in the Man in Black, like the Taylor-focused doc Our Man in Tehran, sets the record
straight by giving a pivotal figure his due.

My Father and the Man
in Black lacks the urgency and finesse of the Taylor doc, but it’s
nevertheless an enjoyable snippet of music history. This behind-the-scenes
exposé reveals the pressures and personal sacrifices made to ensure the success
of others and Holiff’s portrait shows that the hardest workers of the business,
those behind the cameras, often go unsung. Holiff spends a great deal of the
film getting to know the father he missed, for Saul spent much of Jonathan’s
early childhood on the road with Cash. As Holiff notes in his plain,
movie-of-the-week voiceover, he was born just before Saul was working with Cash
on his landmark Folsom Prison album. “How could a nine month old baby compete
with that?” he asks. The film notes that Saul made it back to London, Ontario
for the births of both his sons, though, so Holiff reflects upon his father
admirably and favourably by seeing how hard he worked to balance his
commitments in a demanding career.

My Father and the Man in Black frequently constructs a dialogue
between Saul and Cash using the aforementioned correspondence, and Holiff shows
the camaraderie between the two while also showing the dogged struggle Saul
faced in dealing with the consequences of Cash’s substance abuse that
frequently made him a nightmare to sell, book, and manage. Much of this earlier
section of the films is familiar, even to a viewer without much knowledge of Cash
beyond Walk the Line and his
appearance on “Sesame Street,” so My Father and the Man in
Black covers usual terrain in its first half. It simply takes a different
route.

The film becomes far more interesting, however, when it
reaches the point of Cash’s career that deals with his bizarre religious
fanaticism and how he tried to balance it with his persona as the rugged Man in
Black who “shot a man in Reno just to see him die.” The excerpts of Cash’s
self-financed Biblical film Gospel Road, in which he narrates
the story of Jesus Christ while touring Israel and singing songs, are downright
hilarious. This sequence also introduces the personal rifts between Saul and
Cash as Holiff muses over the shame his father must have experienced while
being cast in the role of Caiaphas, a Jewish priest who plays a role in
condemning Christ to death, during Gospel
Road. Saul, a Jew, wonders if Cash is making a personal dig at his manager
who wishes the star would measure his piousness in the public light. This scene
is one of the few moments in which Holiff interprets the material he explores
from his father’s archive, and it’s undeniably intriguing to watch the footage
twice through different filters.

My Father and the Man
in Black offers perspectives that should appeal mostly to music fans eager
to discover untold stories of the popular icon, but the film too frequently
strays into a sappy tip of the hat to an absent father. Much of the film also
features awkwardly shot dramatic re-enactments to accompany Holiff’s narration
or Saul’s audio diaries, which is occasionally frustrating since one can
presume a great deal of available material exists, although one can also appreciate
Holiff’s reluctance to use Walk the Line
when it downright rejects his father’s existence. These frequent re-enactments
are just a bit too hokey in their execution and brightness, although they might
play far better on smaller home video platforms than on a large theatrical
screen. (The film is actually widely available on home video.) Holiff
nevertheless assembles a great deal of archival material, for the rare
photographs and correspondence are a treasure trove for cultural junkies, and
Holiff’s narration offers enough personal anecdotes to make the material
relatable and accessible. My Father and
the Man in Black is a bit too personal, but its down-home character makes
it personable, too.

Rating: ★★★ (out of ★★★★★)

My Father and the Man in Black screened at the Ottawa International
Film Festival on Friday, Oct. 17 at the Mayfair Theatre.